3-D And Steroscopic Images

A stereo camera is a type of camera with two or more lenses. This allows the camera to simulate human binocular vision, and therefore gives it the ability to capture three-dimensional images, a process known as stereo photography. Stereo cameras may be used for making stereoviews and 3D pictures for movies. The distance between the lenses in a stereo camera (the intra-axial distance) is about the distance between one's eyes (known as the intra-ocular distance) and is about 6.35cm, though a longer base line (greater inter-camera distance) produces more extreme 3-dimensionality.

In the 1950s, stereo cameras gained some popularity with the Stereo Realist and similar cameras that employed 135 film to make stereo slides.

3D pictures following the theory behind stereo cameras can also be made more inexpensively by taking two pictures with the same camera, but moving the camera a few inches either left or right. If the image is edited so that each eye sees a different image, then the image will appear to be 3D. This method has problems with objects moving in the different views, though works well with still life.

Stereo cameras are sometimes mounted in cars to detect the lane's width and the proximity of an object on the road.

Mamiya twin lens reflex (not a stereo camera)Not all two-lens cameras are used for taking stereoscopic photos. A twin-lens reflex camera uses one lens to image to a focusing/composition screen and the other to capture the image on film. These are usually in a vertical configuration.

The View-Master system was invented by William Gruber, an organ maker and avid photographer who lived in Portland, Oregon. He had the idea of updating the old-fashioned stereoscope by using the new Kodachrome color film that had recently become available. While a View-Master reel holds 14 film slides, there are really only seven stereoscopic images; two film slides are viewed simultaneously - one for each eye - thus simulating binocular depth perception.

When on vacation with his wife in 1938, Gruber met Harold Graves, the president of Sawyer's, Inc., a company specializing in picture postcards, and the two men struck up a conversation about Mr. Gruber's invention that lasted well into the night. Shortly thereafter, Gruber and Graves formed a partnership in 1939 which led to the retail sales of View-Master viewers and reels. Within a very short time, the View-Master quickly took over the postcard business at Sawyer's.

Later that year, View-Master was first introduced at the New York World's Fair. It was intended as an alternative to the scenic postcard, and was originally sold at photography shops, stationery stores and scenic attraction gift shops. The main subjects of View-Master reels were Carlsbad Caverns and the Grand Canyon. In the 1940s, the U.S. military recognized the potential for using View-Master products for personnel training, purchasing 100,000 viewers and nearly six million reels between 1942 and the end of World War II in 1945.

In 1951 Sawyer's purchased Tru-Vue, the main competitor of View-Master. In addition to eliminating their main rival, the takeover also gave Sawyer's Tru-Vue's licensing rights to Walt Disney Studios. Sawyer's capitalized on the opportunity and produced numerous reels featuring Disney characters and the newly opened Disneyland.

In 1952 Sawyer's began its View-Master Personal line, which included a 35mm camera for its users to make their own View-Master reels. Although at first highly successful, within ten years the line would be discontinued. Despite an untimely death, many of these ruggedly well-made cameras are still being used today. This line also spawned the Model 'D' viewer (available until the early seventies it was View-Master's highest quality viewer) and View-Master's only 3D projector.

The View-Master had originally been constructed from Kodak Tenite plastic and then bakelite, a hard, sturdy, somewhat heavy plastic. Beginning in 1959, the material of choice became the much lighter-weight thermoplastic.

In 1966 Sawyer's was acquired by the General Aniline & Film (GAF) Corporation, and became a wholly owned subsidiary. Under GAF's ownership View-Master reels started to feature fewer scenic and more child-friendly subjects, such as toys and cartoons. Several now-classic TV series were also featured on View-Master reels, such as Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Star Trek, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Here's Lucy, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Actor Henry Fonda appeared in a series of TV commercials for the GAF View-Master.

In 1976, a red and white View-Master with a blue handle was released to commemorate the United States Bicentennial.

GAF sold View-Master to a group headed by Arnold Thaler in 1981 for $24 million. Six years later, a thriving View-Master International purchased Ideal Toy Company and became known as View-Master Ideal (VMI).

In the mid-1980s, the toy eventually had a home video label, notable for producing Kidsongs.

In August of 1989, the View-Master product line was sold for the third time to Tyco Toys, Inc. of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, upon its purchase of View-Master Ideal. The View-Master line remained part of Tyco until Tyco's merger with Mattel, Inc. in 1997.

Shortly after the merger with Mattel, Inc., the View-Master category shifted to Fisher-Price in East Aurora, New York.

View-Master is now part of the National Toy Hall of Fame of the USA.

Visit my View-Master Site!

There's nothing more fun than a "garage sale" for the collector, and this one has over 5000 3-D related items! Just click on this link to check them out: 3-D Related Garage Sale!

All of these items are from people just like you and me who have a shop on Bonanzle. The link above only gives you the "3-D related" items and their prices. Like a garage sale, if the shop owners happen to be on-line, you can dicker the price because each shop has it's own "chat board".

Who knows! You may enjoy checking out these items so much that you'll want to open your own shop. And why not! It's free!

Here's the link to My Bonanzle Store! and here's the link to Bonanzles main search page:
Bonanzle Search!

These banners are links to some great and reliable stores so if you're shopping on-line, why not give them a try? Besides, I get a few cents commission anytime someone buys using one of these links! It doesn't cost you any extra and it helps me out, so thanks in advance!